Photo: Othello De’Souza-Hartley

Femi Dawkins (aka Jimmy Rage) is a London and Amsterdam-based multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges fractured diasporic and autobiographical narratives. His practice spans visual art, music, poetry and performance, engaging audio-visual media. He was selected for New Contemporaries (2021), the first Lisson Gallery scholarship, and won the prestigious Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs in 2022, and was features in Gagosian’s landmark exhibition Rites of Passage. 

Read more deeply about Femi Dawkins' art practice here:

https://www.sunend.org/collections/femi-dawkins

EDUCATION & AWARDS

• 2022 Tally Money (Debitcard Art Prize), London
• 2022 Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs Award, Amsterdam
• 2022 Almacantar Arts Prize Award, London
• 2022 Lisson Gallery Scholarship with Mentorship by John Akomfrah, London
• 2021 Stichting Niemeijer Fund Grant, Amsterdam
• 2020 Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation Grant, Amsterdam
• 2019 – 2022 MFA Fine Art (Distinction), Goldsmiths College, University of London
• 1990 – 1991 Ford Fellowship, California College of Art, Oakland, CA
• 1989 BA/BS Fine Art/English Literature, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
• 1980 – 1984 High School of Music and Performing Arts, New York, NY

VISUAL ART PRACTICE

• 2024: My Ghostly MRI’s, Solo exhibition, Gallery van Fanny Fretag, Amsterdam
• 2024: Black Joy, Group exhibition, Hastings
• 2023: Bomb Factory Christmas Group Exhibition
• 2023: Fata Morgana, Amsterdam Art Week Gallery at Capital C, Amsterdam — Solo exhibition tribute to Dawkins’ 32-year Amsterdam-based practice
• 2023: Rites of Passage, Group exhibition, Gagosian Gallery, London
• 2022: MFA Goldsmiths College Graduation Exhibition (Distinction), London
• 2022: Late at Tate Britain discussion panel, London
• 2021: Bloomberg New Contemporaries, First Site Gallery, Colchester and South London Gallery, London
• 2019: Founded Black Gold Collective, Goldsmiths University, London
• 2017: Bison Caravan, Despina Gallery, Rio de Janeiro
• 2016: Screaming Through the Galaxy, Chimurenga Magazine, South Africa/Online
• 2016: PAPERWORKS, Gallery WM, Amsterdam
• 2015: Return to the State of L3: Ancestral Blues, Framed Framed, Amsterdam
• 2014-present: Illustrations for The New York Times, Travel section
• 2014: Bison Caravan, Tierrafino Exhibition Space, Amsterdam
• 2013: Eroica: Artefacts Lost and Found, Concept 13, Amsterdam
• 2011: Zwart van Roet / Black from Soot, MC Theatre, Amsterdam
• 2010: Know Thy Self, WM Gallery, Amsterdam
• 2009: Whim Wham, Barnsdale Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles
• 2009: Arti-Aruba, St. Nicolas, Aruba (Artist in Residence)
• 2009: Dollywogs and Collectables, Duo exhibition with Kato Tan, WM Gallery, Amsterdam
• 2013-present: Library of Light Labyrinth Poetry Bar, OBA’s and other galleries, Amsterdam — Ongoing installation of the “Pan Alphabet”, a visual research alphabet of African diaspora innovators

LIVE PERFORMANCE AND POETRY

• 2025: WildCard Performances with Martin Fondse, September, International Theatre Amsterdam Radical Space
• March 2024: Museum of Black Futures Performance
• October 2023: Museum of Black Futures Performance
• 2022: Bloomberg New Contemporaries, spoken word performance, London
• 2018: Ancestral Blues starring Archie Shepp, Super Sonic Jazz Festival, Amsterdam
• 2016-present: Eric van der Westen’s Private Time Machine, ongoing performances across the Netherlands
• 2016: Pan African Space Station, Amsterdam
• 2016: Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland
• 2015: Genees-kunst at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
• 2012–2013: The Afro Galactic Dream Factory, Cape Town, South Africa
• 2010: Badelisha Poetry Exchange, South Africa (online)
• 2009: Kindred Spirits Ensemble, Paradiso, Amsterdam
• 2006: Love is Supreme – Coltrane Special, Rotterdam and The Hague

FILM PERFORMANCE

• 2009: World Vote Now (documentary), Title soundtrack vocals and lyrics, directed by Joel Marsden (State Department Award - Best Film about Democracy 2010)

DISCOGRAPHY

• 2023: Us-Min(G)-Us album released with Eric van der Westen, Private Time Machine
• 2018: Ancestral Blues starring Archie Shepp (Live album), Super Sonic Jazz Festival
• 2018: Notes on a Native Sun, collaboration with Imperceptible Art and Budha Building
• 2018: Eric van der Westen’s Private Time Machine
• 2017: Ancestral Blues studio album

TEACHING

• 2018: Art Tutor, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten/Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
• 2013-2014: Masterclasses, Habitat, Amsterdam
• 2012: The Mix Academy, Abstract Art Course, Amsterdam
• 2011: Prince Claus Fund Music Masterclass, Performance Mentor across Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, and Tilburg
• 2010: Corporate Responsibility Workshop for Tommy Hilfiger, Amsterdam
• 2009: The Mix Academy, Contemporary Art Practices Course, Amsterdam